i had been eyeing this scope for quite some time and when they appeared on the sample list for a very huge discount i thought i would have to try one out on one of my ar-15s.

looking at the specs for this scope on paper it looks nearly ideal for a ar-15. very low on the low side, very high for a small scope on the high side magnification , small and reasonably light weight.

minox is sort of known for good glass and mushy turrets.

first off my turrets seem reasonably good. positive clicks you can feel and hear. there is a bit of slack in the elevation--but not much. overall it looks good in that area.

looking across a short field and into deep dark woods on a overcast day i can see very fine details of small trees deep in the shadows , their bark is very well defined, and the colors are subtle and sharp at the same time. it does have a very crisp and well defined look about it.

compared to my other 2-7x types of scopes-- a mid range vortex diamondback and a excellent vortex viper it has a slight edge in color , contrast and definition. not a great lead--but it is a dog-hair better than the viper in most settings. (to my eyes)

in light gathering it is brighter than the diamondback pretty much everywhere in the mag range , the viper on the other had seems as bright as it is, that is till you get up to about 7x then the ZA5 seems to pull ahead. the diamondback is very good at light gathering in its class --so nither the viper or the minox is a 'slouch" in that area.

strangely the ZA5 seems as bright @8x as it is @1.5x in daylight. maybe my eyes are just getting old and funny-- on other scopes they seem super bright at low numbers and you can seem them lose a shade or two of light as you turn the dial up. this one loses so little i can't tell if it has or has not lost much light --or even none at all , as you turn it up.

over all it seems to be well made and has very good glass.

so far so good but there are some pitfalls in the minox1.5-8x scopes installation on an ar-15.

#1 -- it has got way too much eye relief --you got to mount it way out to the end of the rail on your upper with a cantilever mount. even a itty-bitty little bit too close and you got a tunnel to look through.

think of this as the exact opposite of a ACOG--an ACOG seems like it can't get close enough to your eye this minox needs space and lost of it!

#2-- it has a very unforgiving and small eye box sweet spot. once you find it it is fine and you have to train yourself to get set in the same spot every time.

it is so tight that the first time i set this on my ar-15 i thought i was going to have to send it back--

it is very fiddely to set up --1/4 inch one way on the mount makes huge changes in how the optic preforms . it has to be EXACT --no room for error on the set up.

probably minox gave away much of that sweet spot and FOV to get that 4"+ eye relief , i suspect.

now they would have had a world beater on their hands had they just opened up that eye box and FOV-- had this been a 3"=3.5" ???

i think i can get this to work , i'm going to swap in a A2 stock that will give me another 5/8" and some careful settings on the FF ring and scope position it should set up good enough.

in contrast the viper and the diamondback you just drop them on and dial them in.

maybe it will be worth the hassle and expense of a few more adjustments-- it is so close to working like a charm--

so far i haven't noticed any other optical problems with it --it is however a very high-strung piece of equipment.

in a few more days i'll no for sure if it is a "keeper" i think it will be , but it sure ain't a slam-dunk like the viper is for the AR-15 set up.

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